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“At the party yesterday. I don’t remember much of it, and neither does anyone else, really, but apparently Isabella attacked her with a dagger and tried to kill her. Emperor Aiden stopped her in time. I didn’t see it, but apparently he moved extremely fast. It was incredible!"
Tempest assumed the god of the dead was still in control when that happened. How else would he have been able to move so quickly?
She quickly got out of bed and went to get changed. The only black dress she had slipped over her curves. Tempest had a feeling she would need to wear something today that could hide the color of blood.
Sylvia came over to help adjust the back so it fit correctly. “Where are you suddenly taking off to?”
“I need to find someone. I won’t be long, but it may be best to stay in your room for the day. Don’t let anyone in unless it’s me."
Sylvia nodded, eyes wide. “You think it may still be unsafe?”
“Think about it; you were black-out drunk with less than a single glass of wine. So was everyone else there yesterday. There’s got to be more going on than just a drunk woman attacking another drunk woman. I think you were drugged.”
“Oh. I didn’t think about that.” Sylvia’s fingers twitched nervously in front of her.
Tempest faced her friend and placed her hands on her shoulders. “It will all be fine. Your god seems to care a great deal about your safety, and I will figure out what is going on. Just be smart while I do this, so I don’t worry. All right?”
It took Sylvia a moment to realize what Tempest had just said. “Wait! What do you mean, my god cares about my safety? What do you know?”
Tempest regretted having said anything and, with a gentle hand on her friend’s back, ushered Sylvia back to her own room.
“Never mind, it’s not important right now. Just stay here until I get back.”
With a slight smile, Sylvia sighed in resignation and closed and locked the door, leaving Tempest alone in the hall.
Tempest used their connection to find Aiden and took off. She assumed his mortal self had taken control by now, but she needed to see him immediately and convince him to let her speak with Isabella—hopefully, without him asking too many questions.
Chapter 20
Tempestfollowedtheirconnectionuntil she finally found Aiden exiting a room with the prominent members of his court. She stopped to wait for him and watched from the shadows until he turned and locked eyes with her. He didn’t look away as he finished his goodbyes.
Tempest’s heart raced and pounded in her chest as she waited for him. Each beat vibrated her skin and made the hairs on her arms stand on end. She stepped out of the shadows and moved toward him.
“I was hoping you would come to find me today.”
His smile both broke and melted her heart. She looked but only saw the mortal Aiden today. There was no sign that the god of the dead was still present.
“Can we talk for a moment? Alone?” Tempest asked.
Aiden’s brow rose, an unspoken question at the tip of his tongue, but instead of asking it, he gestured for her to follow him into the room he had just exited.
The door click shut behind her as Tempest wandered into the room, trying to decide how best to broach the topic of yesterday’s events. She decided to just do it and quickly turned to face him.
“What do you remember from yesterday?” she blurted.
Aiden blushed. “Uh, I remember being at the party, and seeing you. Soon after, things become a bit blurry. I left with Faith, and then you accused her of… drugging me? Then we...” his face grew even redder, and he cleared his throat before continuing, “kissed. After that, nothing, until I woke up in my bed this morning. I was just informed that I saved someone from an attack, which I don’t remember, and was about to go down and speak to the woman.”
Tempest stewed over his story for a moment. She hadn’t been sure if he would remember that they had kissed, and based on his reaction just now, she had a feeling it had complicated things.
“May I join you?” she asked.
“You want to go see the woman in the dungeon?”
“I do. I have some questions for Isabella. There were a few odd things that happened yesterday besides the attack that I have a feeling were either connected to her or to the god she represents.”
He stared at her, waiting for her to elaborate.
“I can explain more, but with or without you, I will be seeing her.”
